1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method for data transfer in a multiple-standard network, a physical gateway for connecting a device of a first non-IP physical data transfer standard to a multiple-standard network, a sophisticated gateway for the use in a multiple-standard network, and to a multiple-standard network. A multiple-standard network could be a home network or an automotive network comprising networks such as IEEE1394, Bluetooth, IEEE802.11, USB, Powerline, etc.
2. Description of Related Art
In known networks, such as the one e.g. described in European patent application EP 02 017 621.0, a plurality of devices are connected to a multiple-standard network via dumb gateways. The devices thereby may be communicating with said multiple-standard network via different standards, such as e.g. Bluetooth, MOST, IEEE802-11, USB (=Universal Serial Bus), Powerline and/or the like.
The dumb gateways used for connecting said devices to the multiple-standard network are thereby specifically designed to be compatible with a specific standard of a device. For example, if a Bluetooth device shall be connected to said multiple-standard network, a Bluetooth compatible dumb gateway must be used. This means, a user who wants to connect a Bluetooth device to said multiple-standard network, must use a dumb gateway compatible with the Bluetooth standard. This implies that a dumb gateway cannot be used for other than for the specified standard.
This also prevents the use of such a standard specific dumb gateway for new standards. In other words, if a new standard currently not known is coming up in the future, then the standard specific dumb gateway cannot be used any more.